


With This Ring

by SunnyD_lite



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, Post Season 5, Tag to Intervention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-02
Updated: 2010-04-02
Packaged: 2017-10-08 15:52:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/77292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunnyD_lite/pseuds/SunnyD_lite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A plan that required money. And maybe some advice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With This Ring

**Author's Note:**

> TamingtheMuse Prompt: 98 Cubic  
> Disclaimer: I am not Joss. I don't own these characters well maybe the two you don't recognize.

Xander was washing Spike's blood off his hands. He'd imagined this a hundred times; hell he'd gone to threaten the chipped wonder a few hours ago. Cold water, anti-bacterial soap. Being a Scooby taught you odd skills. The scary part was how little blood had transferred. Like there wasn't much left.

They'd faced big bads before. Heck even Dracula had dropped by -- not that he was ever bringing that up, ever-- but seeing what she'd done to Spike, the original Timex of a takes a licking but keeps on ticking variety.

Glory was the Majors and while they'd only be playing house league.

He and Giles had made sure that Spike made it back to his crypt. Giles even promised to send some blood around. Xander didn't think it was a bribe for information, merely the decent thing to do.

It got him thinking.

He'd told Anya that he really loved her. After seeing how the Buffster was post-Riley, he'd tried to imagine coming home to an empty apartment. Tried to imagine not having her take on the Scooby stuff. She might be blunt, but 1,100 years of demon-ness meant she knew things, sometimes better than Giles.

Last night just confirmed all of that. If Spike could get that thrashed, none of them could have survived it.

It wasn't just the Scooby stuff. Or the sex. Not that he was knocking the sex. Sex was a happy thing. But it was more than sex. For the first time in his life, he had a savings account. And an investment account. A Harris with investments! And that didn't include the over-time he was sneaking in. Sneaking because he had a plan. A better plan than his Kerouac summer. A plan that looked beyond this big bad, past all the big bads.

A plan that required money. And maybe some advice.

He'd ask his girls but...but Buffy had just lost her mom and was facing the Dawn issue and the Glory issue. Willow, she wasn't girly enough for this. Tara would be good but even he could see the tension between her and Willow. This was not a question for an unhappy couple.

And G-man was a little too much like asking his dad. Plus, see the Glory issue.

So he had to turn to his other friends. Okay, the guys on his crew. The ones he talked movies and beer and power tools with. They were fine with cuts, but what did any of them know about carats?

He tried at lunch break the next day.

"Guys, what's for lunch?" They were in the designated rest area, so were able to shuck the hard hats for a while. Sitting down they opened their big metal lunchboxes. He kinda still missed his blue Snoopy one, but he was a man now and it was time to put away childish things.

Plus his parents had sold it at the one garage sale they'd had the summer after high school when he couldn't protect his stuff.

David and Richard plunked down beside him. They always compared food. Since Anya had been assisting with his lunch, he'd always won the best or grossest lunch. Nothing in between. Especially if it involved some of her favorite cheeses.

"Jesus, Harris. What died in your lunch box this week?"

So it wasn't going to be a best lunch day. He could deal. Although he did decide to toss the wax paper blob that seemed the likeliest source of the odor. He reached for the apple; that should be safe.

"Doesn't matter, what have you got?" Cold pizza and a ham sandwich were offered up for inspection. So full lunchboxes, another reason to go forward.

This would be awkward. Nothing but awkward. Might as well dive into it.

"You know Ans and I have been together for almost two years, well two years by her counting."

This garnered him so, yay shrugs. "I'm thinking of popping the question." And he braced himself.

David paused before taking a bite of his Pizza Supreme to comment, "Woah! That's, well, big."

"Are you sure?" Richard's ham sandwich hovered in mid air, dripping mustard on his pants. "You know that life is also a murder sentence, right?"

"Feeling the love here." Okay not unexpected but he was running out of options. He glared at them. "Seriously, what do you guys know about rings?"

"Bigger is better," was David's immediate response.

"But man, those things aren't cheap. If size matters, what about cubic zirconia?" Richard took a bite of his sandwich, then chewed and swallowed. "No one can tell the difference and I have a friend who could hook you up."

Richard always had a friend. He was a human yellow pages. Xander rolled the apple in his hands. Tempting, very tempting since he knew his Ahn did like big things. But then his sense of self-preservation kicked in.

"If I know her, the first thing she'll do is get it appraised so the insurance will cover it, and I like my insides on the inside." He grinned, not wanting them to know that he was dead serious with that threat. Both parts. He probably had more insurance than his parents at this point.

"Do you think she'll say yes?" David's dark hair fell in front of his eyes as he looked at the site, away from Xander. "If you're not sure, maybe you should check the return policy. 'Cuz being stuck with ring payments and no sex would suck."

A return policy? That felt like hedging his bets. He could see that, but the ring was a sign of commitment. If he couldn't commit to jewelry, was he really ready to get married? Plus he had the amount he was willing to spend, no financing required. He'd listened to enough Anya rants on 'consumer debt and interest are evil' to avoid that trap.

"Hey, my parents married young and they're like sickeningly happy." Richard had finished the sandwich and had moved onto the pudding cup. Rice pudding. Who could eat that stuff? "When you know, well you know. All I know is Susie is the one for now. Can't even imagine planning a July 4th party with her, but talk about fireworks!"

That earned Richard groans. He'd never provided details but the talk was he loved the day Cosmo came out. Adventurous was the normal description. Xander just shook his head. Let them think what they wanted. He never mentioned that Anya could take Susie on for adventurous any day. Anya could talk about sex. He just liked the fact he was doing it.

The downside of being a Scooby was that he never knew if there would be a July. Was this a real commitment or was this is own talisman? Pretending that there would be a future for them?

Did it matter? He wasn't sure if he wanted a future without Anya. He didn't see a downside.

Lunch was coming to an end when Scott, who'd been sitting near them, came over. "Heard you talking." His hand clutched his yellow hard hat. "I was going to pop the question, but then" His head jerked away. Xander looked away too. They'd all chipped in for funeral flowers.

"I still have the ring. If you wanted to see it? I'd rather it go to a good home."

He'd imagined facing down snooty sales people and counters of rings. Cut Clarity Color Carat. There were so many ways that shopping for a diamond could go wrong. Sometimes he really missed Cordy; at least she'd know what to do. Plus, given the Glory thing, when would he have the time? If it was just one ring, the pressure would be off. If it didn't suit, well it couldn't hurt to look.

He glanced at his watch. Time to get to work. Time to move forward.


End file.
